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LEWES – After romping through its first three games, the Appoquinimink boys lacrosse team knew it was going to get a lot tougher Friday night.

The second-ranked Jaguars weren’t ready in the first half. But they stayed close, then turned it on in the third quarter and got some big saves late to outlast fifth-ranked Cape Henlopen 7-6 at Legends Stadium.

“We just got them to settle down a little bit, take the pressure a little bit more,” Appo coach Chris Rutter said. “We just gave them a little confidence booster. They didn’t feel very confident, but they ended up feeling confident.”

The Jaguars were outshot 31-17, but still found a way to win. Junior Mitch Meckley made five saves in the first half. Then senior Noah Given added seven saves in the second half, including three huge stops in the final 6:34 to keep the game tied.

“It’s a big deal. Lacrosse here at Cape is a very big thing,” Given said. “It’s the community. Everybody does it, everybody loves it. So to come down here and beat them the way we did, it was fun. I’m going to remember this forever.”

Appo was on its way to a forgettable night early. The Vikings (4-1) outshot the Jaguars 10-1 in the first quarter, with Greg Boyce, Jaycob Trimmer and Evan Gehman finding the net for a 3-0 lead.

“We took care of the ball a whole lot better in the first half than we did in the second half,” Cape coach Mark D’Ambrogi said. “That allowed us to get some good shots. That was the reason for our lead.”

Zach Bowen scored on a double spin move to pull the Jaguars within 4-2 at the half, but their biggest offensive weapon was struggling. After scoring 17 goals in Appo’s first three games – won by a combined 55-3 – the Vikings shut out senior Cross Ferrara in the first half.

“We haven’t had that kind of pressure. He’s been able to get his hands free for shots pretty easily,” Rutter said. “They were really shutting him down. He needed to just put a little more effort into his dodges.”

So the returning All-American turned it up a notch. In the third quarter, Ferrara scored while being decked, found the net on a fast break and muscled in for a third goal. Jackson Truitt also scored on Bowen’s assist as Appo took a 6-5 lead.

Cape’s Luke D’Ambrogi found Gehman in deep to tie it at 6 with 7:36 remaining. The Vikings continued to apply the pressure, but Given kept them from regaining the lead. Then, with 2:21 left, Ferrara sprinted across the field from right to left and handed off to Bowen, who buried a hard shot for the go-ahead goal.

“Coach was yelling at us the whole game, ‘Do that! Do it! Do it!’” Ferrara said. “It was just right in one ear, out the other. Finally, we listened and it worked.”

Cape missed the net with a couple of shots, but unexpectedly got the ball back with 32 seconds left. The Vikings scrambled for a tying shot, but couldn’t find an opening. The game ended with the ball behind the net and no shot taken.

“I was so nervous. I was so scared,” Given said. “My heart was racing. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was just happy it ended the way it did.”

Appo (4-0) got three goals from Ferrara and two from Bowen. Cape got two goals each from Trimmer and Gehman – and a lot of frustration.

“There’s not a lot you can take out of it,” D’Ambrogi said. “Same as any game. Fix mistakes that you make, correct what needs to be corrected, get back to work.”